3 Reasons Why I Do NOT Use the KJV

I grew up using the King James Version of the Bible first published in  1611. I stopped using it at some point in high school, and I adopted the English Standard Version as my primary translation at some point in college. I want to start by saying that the KJV was useful, and was a good translation. It accurately portrayed the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and was translated masterfully, but I do not use it, nor do I advocate its use in the current era. Why? Well Three main reasons actually:

1. It adds an extra barrier to understanding. 
Lets get one thing straight: the Bible takes work to understand. We have a barrier of time and culture between use and the writers. We have to over come those barriers through a proper understanding of the historical context, then we have to read carefully, seeking to under the literary context. We should remove any barrier we can from understanding the text. So why use a Bible translated in 1611 instead of a more modern one.

2. Language changes
This is the big one. Language has radically changed since 1611.  I remember hearing a story as a child about a little old lady prayer warrior climbing into her closet to pray for others. Now I cringe that this Godly lady who wanted to commune with God thought she was supposed to climb into her closet to pray. Matthew 6:5-6 in the KJV says;

"5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."

The word "closet" at the time meant room, but now no one would use the word in that sense. This is not an error in the KJV, it is actually just the evolution of language over time.  Also the point of the passage is not that you should only pray in your room, but that you should not make a show of prayer.

3. We have more manuscripts now.

The King James Version was translated using significantly less manuscripts than modern translations are. We want to try to determine, from the manuscripts that we have, what the original writings of the Apostles, Patriarchs, and other writers said. We have significantly more texts now than they had then to use to determine what the original manuscript said. In reality this is not as important as it sounds, and affects a much smaller portion of the text than the other two points made above.

So those are three reasons why I do not use the KJV. And I urge you to do the same. If you have been using the KJV all your life you may realize that if you open the ESV or the NASB that you have failed to understand the text properly simply because of the language used.

New Year, New Ideas, New Problems, Same God

So much changes year to year doesn't it?

This past year I left the church where I was a youth minister thinking I was going to be a part of a church planting residency at another church. The church planting residency did not work out, so for the time being I am not ministering in any official capacity at any church, though that does not stop me from serving God. This huge change was, of course, hard on me and my family and has left me scrambling to find work.

I have also had a child in the past year. Jude is my third child (and first son!), so I now I have three under three. This comes with its joys, blessings, and its difficulties.

Life changes. We grow and we move. We have different jobs, different attitudes, and different struggles. But one thing does not change and never will: God.

Hebrews 3:18 says "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."


This verse was equating the idea of Jesus being God, and is parallel to Malachi 3:6 where God claims: "For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed."  The unchanging nature of God, in all three persons of the trinitarian Godhead, assures us of His promises. All else may change, but our God does not.

Spurgeon had this to say:  "The mountains with their snow-white crowns, doff their old diadems in summer, in rivers trickling down their sides, while the storm cloud gives them another coronation; the ocean, with its mighty floods, loses its water when the sunbeams kiss the waves, and snatch them in mists to heaven; even the sun himself requires fresh fuel from the hand of the Infinite Almighty, to replenish his ever burning furnace. All creatures change. Man, especially as to his body, is always undergoing revolution. Very probably there is not a single particle in my body which was in it a few years ago. This frame has been worn away by activity, its atoms have been removed by friction, fresh particles of matter have in the mean time constantly accrued to my body, and so it has been replenished; but its substance is altered. The fabric of which this world is made is ever passing away; like a stream of water, drops are running away and others are following after, keeping the river still full, but always changing in its elements. But God is perpetually the same."

In a world of constant and continual change we have one single constant. We have one great promise keeper. No matter what, God stays the same. We can find comfort in His offer of grace at the cross of Jesus.

Relevant Links II

Advance 13 Live Stream: Watch this conference from the comfort of your living room (or office) on how to have faithful and effective churches.

Lab Grown Meat: This is has the potential to revolutionize the meat industry with quite a few caveats. If it tastes good, if it is nutritionally equivalent, if the price can be reduced, and if people can get over the fact that its lab grown. Still cool any way you look at it.

Faith in humanity is misplaced. Humanity (and individual humans, including myself) are wicked. Thankfully our God is good.

On the Pope: I do not necessarily agree with this author that the Pope in the anti-Christ, but I do believe that many protestants have forgotten that the Pope in the head of one of the largest cults in the world and that the Catholic church adds works to salvation among teaching many other false doctrines.

Spoiler Alert: The only foundation for ministry, youth or otherwise, is Jesus.

Music Spotlight: Made Alive by the Citizens

The Citizens is one of the worship bands at Mars Hills Church in Seattle Washington. This video ("Made Alive") is a fantastic song with rich, theological lyrics. I have listened to this song repeatedly in the last several days. The album can be purchased on Amazon. It is so refreshing to hear modern music with spiritual and theological depth; check them out.

Righteously Relevant Reading Reviews

You may remember that a while ago I posted Righteously Relevant Reading Previews, wherein I gave a quick thought on the books that I was currently reading at the time. I have finished  two of those three books, and the third I have given up on, so here are some concluding thoughts on each of those books.

Surprised by Grace by Tullian Tchividjian

I whole-heartedly recommend this book. It is a fantastic book focused on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is my conviction that the whole Bible is about Jesus, and Tullian shares this conviction. This book connects the story of Jonah to the Gospel in a profound and God-glorifying way. God pursues sinners.  He pursued Jonah with a whale, and he pursued me by sending Jesus to die for my sins.

Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana Jr.

Apparently at sea nothing happens. The first half of this book was incredibly exciting. It was a page turner story that also explain in detail how sailors lived during the time period in which it was written. The second half tells of the return voyage in real time. Almost every detail of every single monotonous event is spelled out for the reader. I am not saying this to discourage reading, I sometimes think that I have the attention span of a fruit fly, but this book just stopped being interesting. Life is to short to read books like that since so many interesting and good books are out there.

90 Days of God's Goodness by Randy Alcorn

We read this book for dinner time devotions, and we found it really focused us on the goodness of God. We all need constant reminders that despite our situation and despite the bad things that happen to us, God is still good. Randy Alcorn time and time again in this book reminds us of the primary reason that we know God is good: He sent His Son to die for us. That is love, and that is goodness. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a devotional to use individually or as a family.

What the Name Means

Righteously Relevant ... so what could this cleverly alliterated title possible mean?

Did I just slap two words together that sounded good?

The answer to the above question is no. In fact, I believe the being righteous is relevant.

I believe that all people are unrighteous by birth, and unrighteous in actions, thought, and motive. I believe because of this unrighteousness that I, and everyone else, deserve the just punishment of God. This punishment is eternal death in the lake of fire.

But I believe that before time began, God set in motion His sovereign plan to save humanity from their rebellion against Him. The culmination of this plan hinges on the singular event to which all of history is turned. This event is the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

On the cross Jesus received your punishment and you received His righteousness. So if you are a Christian, you are righteous by the grace of God. We, as Christians, are called to spread this message of God's salvation, of how to become righteous.

If you are not a Christian than repent (turn from your sin and turn to Jesus) and believe and you will be made righteous by the cross of Christ.

This righteousness, not the righteousness of tradition, moral ability, or kindness to others, is relevant because it is the only way to gain eternal life.

Catechisms Are Not Dead

Catechisms are not dead. Some today think that if we want to educate our children we must forego the use of catechisms and find some other means of instruction. And while the systematic theology taught through catechism cannot replace teaching directly from the Bible, it can be a big help to understanding God and His word.

Recently The Gospel Coalition in partnership with Timothy Keller's church released The New City Catechism. This catechism is shorter than the catechisms that it was based on, and has both a children's and an adult version. This is a doctrinally solid catechism, though it does not go into detail on some issues of secondary importance, such as mode of baptism or eschatology.

There are fifty-two questions and answers and I think that it would be great if a church built its children's curriculum around these fifty-two questions and answers. The parents could work with their children through the catechism and then the church could then reinforce each question and answer.

It is great to see that this tradition, which has been practiced by many different denominations (even baptists like Charles Spurgeon have written catechisms), is continually being updated. The website for this catechism has an interactive viewer with both written and video commentary. Take a look at the New City Catechism and consider teaching it to your children!